Formula E in Shanghai: Lucas di Grassi wins thanks to his team-mate’s bad luck

For Lola Yamaha ABT, the second race in Shanghai, was a special one. Lucas di Grassi secured victory thanks to a full-course yellow triggered by his team-mate. The Brazilian shared the podium with Jean-Eric Vergne and Joel Eriksson. Drugovich, who started from pole, finished the race in 6th place. Pascal Wehrlein finished the race in 4th place, Nico Müller in 7th. Maximilian Günther in the DS Penske could only manage 11th place.

With temperatures at a warm 27 degrees, the 20 drivers set off on the 27-lap race. Unlike the previous day’s race, however, the pit boost – the mid-race charging stop – was not used in this race.

For safety reasons, the race started behind the safety car, as the track was quite wet. Numerous umbrellas could be seen on the grid right up until the start. Evans’ car, however, was not on the starting grid. The kiwi, who was still leading the championship at the time, was unable to start the race and was in the Jaguar garage wearing his street clothes.

Standing start after the safety car

After three laps, the safety car pulled in and the race began with a standing start. Nico Müller described the track conditions over the radio as very wet but manageable. The drivers pulled into their starting boxes with burnouts, and the race got underway on lap four. The first four drivers – Barnard, Marti, Mortara and de Vries – immediately activated Attack Mode for four minutes. The two Porsches followed a lap later, with Müller being the only one to secure six minutes.

With Attack Mode activated, the two Porsche drivers found themselves at the front of the field. There was a slight contact between Marti and Müller, but both clearly emerged unscathed. Wehrlein was told by his team that Müller, despite having a longer Attack Mode activation, would not attack him. At that point, the top four consisted of four Porsche-powered cars, with the two works Porsches driven by Wehrlein and Müller in the lead, followed by Drugovich and Dennis in the Andrettis in third and fourth places.

Contact between Rowland and da Costa

Things also got dangerous for Rowland and da Costa: there was contact which caused damage to Felix da Costa’s front wing. Rowland radioed, claiming that Felix da Costa had driven into him. The Jaguar driver was issued a warning for the incident. The loose front wing subsequently scraped against the Portuguese driver’s tyre.

There was a breathtaking overtaking manoeuvre by Buemi, who used Attack Mode to pass his team-mate and Müller. Joel Eriksson also overtook the Porsche and found himself at the front of the field shortly afterwards. His team-mate Buemi was still behind Wehrlein.

Full Course Yellow decides the race

Shortly afterwards, Zane Maloney caused a yellow flag, which soon turned into a Full Course Yellow. The Barbadian came to a halt and was unable to continue the race. He came to a standstill on the start-finish straight. Many drivers lost the extra power provided by Attack Mode due to the interruption, including Joel Eriksson and Jean-Eric Vergne, who were in the top two positions. Lucas di Grassi found himself in third place at that point, with four minutes of Attack Mode remaining. He was thus the only driver in the top 10 with Attack Mode still left. After the Full Course Yellow was lifted, Lucas di Grassi drove through the Attack Mode loop and began to put pressure on Jean-Eric Vergne and Joel Eriksson ahead of him.

Eriksson, who had less energy left, was overtaken by Vergne shortly before the end of the race, with Vergne briefly taking the lead. However, the Frenchman in the Citroen was unable to keep up with di Grassi and his Lola-Yamaha-ABT car in Attack Mode: at the start of the final lap, on the start-finish straight, di Grassi overtook Vergne and won the Shanghai E-Prix.

Formula E action continues in Tokyo in three weeks’ time.

Results, Starting Grid & Times

Results & Times

Overall standings (riders, teams & manufacturers)